Teams & Riders Team Visma - Lease a Bike

[Rackham]

Just name it No Risk No Glory

The Stomp Collector.

If they set up Van Aert to guide and pull Rog during the stage it would be conceivable they could gain time on GC rivals. But that will also be a day where Van Aert is a favorite to win the stage. So will be interesting to see how JV play it. I suspect it will be to give Van Aert free reign.

Go aggressive with the full team. Don't ride defensive, i.e. go all out with a team attack.

If Pog brings the watts on the Alpe D'Huez (or another high mountain stage), Jumbo shouldn't look at the cobbles as a threat, but as an opportunity.

Get Roglic, WvA, Jonas & the rest all on the front & bring the pain to UAE. Maybe Ineos will join in as well.

 

[acm]

Get Roglic, WvA, Jonas & the rest all on the front & bring the pain to UAE. Maybe Ineos will join in as well.

I think that's the plan.

 

[Oldermanish]

I was being generous because despite my (sorry) often boring rants here, I actually like WvA. But he shouldn't have a full team of helpers, let alone GC helpers, pulling for him in stage races (& certainly not in a GT).



They miss the man Tony Martin, i.e. with his human qualities, but as a road captain he was imperfect. Some of the crashes last year were on him.

Basically we'll see how far the #samenwinnen motto goes this weekend. My prediction? Roglic & Vingegaard could be alone half way up the Croix de Fer. It's much, much easier to "win together" on flat or rolling stages than on hors catégorie cols.

That escape up the Croix de Fer, should it happen will be followed by a non-technical 10km of descending, Wout will not make the front if it is hard. Any larger group will regain contact unless they summit with 60-90 seconds. The lower half prior to Vuljany has some sketch turns giving advantage back to a small lead group, though.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Riding aggressive up the hill likely won't crack Pogi. They for example have to create an opportunity to play the numbers game. For example up the hill with Vingegaard or on the flat with some TTT. That is in situations such as crosswinds or from some tactical opportunity. For both possible scenarios. Being an attack or chasing. Here i feel that they have a much better chance compared to setting high tempo up the hill and expecting Pogi will crack.

 

[Sciatic]

The Stomp Collector.



Go aggressive with the full team. Don't ride defensive, i.e. go all out with a team attack.

If Pog brings the watts on the Alpe D'Huez (or another high mountain stage), Jumbo shouldn't look at the cobbles as a threat, but as an opportunity.

Get Roglic, WvA, Jonas & the rest all on the front & bring the pain to UAE. Maybe Ineos will join in as well.

That’s what I would love to see!

 

[CyclistAbi]

TTT - The Trophy Tabinet

P.S. Documentary starting with an image of a shark ...

 

[DanielSong39]

I don't think there is a TTT in this year's Tour de France

If there was one surely they'd bring Dennis? (They might bring him anyway, have him pull on the flats and hills and maybe before the final climb on the mountains)

 

[gunara]

For general audience who only knows the name of the Tour winner, the best title is probably The Other Slovenian

 

[CyclistAbi]

As for an in-joke. It does look like that the worst thing that can happen to a Slovenian cycling fan is for the Slovenian to win the Tour the France.

 

[RedheadDane]

For general audience who only knows the name of the Tour winner, the best title is probably The Other Slovenian

You mean, for the Documentary made for last year's Tour, if Roglic hadn't crashed out?

 

[DanielSong39]

That was last year
Roglic has a good chance this year
Also this is the Tour, you never know. Something might happen to Pogacar

 

[RedheadDane]

That was last year
Roglic has a good chance this year
Also this is the Tour, you never know. Something might happen to Pogacar

Yes, but as already pointed out, the documentary this year is not gonna have a title referring to the race of just one team.

 

[sir fly]

A successful dress rehearsal despite a few near misses.
Rogla seems to be lacking just a little bit at the tail and of endurance. As WVA does.
Enough time till the crucial stages to fix that.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Two stage races this week.

They won the GC, the points classification and three stages at both of those.

Incredible.

 

[Red Rick]

Two stage races this week.

They won the GC, the points classification and three stages at both of those.

Incredible.

There's the Dauphine, and there's a 5 sprint stage race where they brought their top sprinting talent against weak opposition

 

[Rackham]

Kruijswijk was very strong today. Impressive. I haven't seen him like this in years. Chris Harper was great on the Colombière (& Harper probably isn't even in the Tour squad), as was Benoot. Laporte was dropped early but WvA seems to value him so I guess he's in the Tour squad (& he's French as well).

They're miles ahead of where they were at the same point last year. So I was wrong, i.e. WvA can probably go for green considering the form of the rest of the team. He did a nice pull on the flat as well.

It'll be different in the Tour though when there's Pogacar sitting next to Jonas & Rog, with Yates & the Ineos riders in the vicinity as well. So tactically these sorts of situations (two GC threats) aren't a guarantor of success. The potential for drama is huge, including an intra Jumbo battle for yellow. I mean it's all smiles & laughter in the Dauphiné but let's wait & see how well the cohabitation goes on the slopes of the Alpe D'Huez or Hautacam in week 3 when the stakes are at their highest.

For example I still remember Geraint Thomas getting screwed over by a landslide in 2019 (& more unsavoury stuff like Froome provoking Wiggins in 2012).

 

[skippo12]

Kruijswijk was very strong today. Impressive. I haven't seen him like this in years. Chris Harper was great on the Colombière (& Harper probably isn't even in the Tour squad), as was Benoot. Laporte was dropped early but WvA seems to value him so I guess he's in the Tour squad (& he's French as well).

They're miles ahead of where they were at the same point last year. So I was wrong, i.e. WvA can probably go for green considering the form of the rest of the team. He did a nice pull on the flat as well.

It'll be different in the Tour though when there's Pogacar sitting next to Jonas & Rog, with Yates & the Ineos riders in the vicinity as well. So tactically these sorts of situations (two GC threats) aren't a guarantor of success. The potential for drama is huge, including an intra Jumbo battle for yellow. I mean it's all smiles & laughter in the Dauphiné but let's wait & see how well the cohabitation goes on the slopes of the Alpe D'Huez or Hautacam in week 3 when the stakes are at their highest.

For example I still remember Geraint Thomas getting screwed over by a landslide in 2019 (& more unsavoury stuff like Froome provoking Wiggins in 2012).

They need to play it smarter in the Tour. Dauphine was all about being leagues above the competition. Looking at todays performance the obvious example would be Roglic not following Vingegaards initial acceleration. Didn´t matter because O´Connor wasn´t able to follow them anyway but if Pog is with them Roglic needs to sit on his backwheel and dare him to close the gap.

 

[Rackham]

They need to play it smarter in the Tour. Dauphine was all about being leagues above the competition. Looking at todays performance the obvious example would be Roglic not following Vingegaards initial acceleration. Didn´t matter because O´Connor wasn´t able to follow them anyway but if Pog is with them Roglic needs to sit on his backwheel and dare him to close the gap.

Then watch UAE leave the jersey to TJV on Vingegaard's shoulders because Tadej can drop a bomb in the final ITT if need be, likewise Roglic himself will probably be nullified from attacking if his own teammate has the leader jersey.

I think the exciting part for neutral fans is there's so much potential for drama. For a Roglic fan though (which I am), I'm still scratching my head. The lack of ITT km's until the end of the 3rd week is only going to further reduce the gaps between the favorites as well.

 

[Extinction]

They need to play it smarter in the Tour. Dauphine was all about being leagues above the competition. Looking at todays performance the obvious example would be Roglic not following Vingegaards initial acceleration. Didn´t matter because O´Connor wasn´t able to follow them anyway but if Pog is with them Roglic needs to sit on his backwheel and dare him to close the gap.

Agreed, but I don't see Pogacar having to follow anyone's initial accelleration as he himself will drop the bomb first.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Yes, but as already pointed out, the documentary this year is not gonna have a title referring to the race of just one team.

This one is easy. Primož Roglič 2.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Overall a good team performance at Dauphiné and two main goals reached. Kruijswijk performed really good on stage 8 and likely secured his Tour spot. Harper did good too. As for the Roglič, Vingegaard and van Aert. It is now clear on why their spots were never under a question. Superb form and likely they will still add a bit to it. Somehow i feel they don't plan to change much for the Tour. Then best to accept it and lets see on how it goes. Due to van Aert ambitions i do feel that as a (GC) team they might race a bit to aggressive. But there are pros too. And maybe that stomp from stage 7 technically wouldn't be needed. In such case better to preserve some energy for the next day. Like lets say ITT. I guess it was needed for resolving some inner team hierarchy questions. And finally lets hope they prepare well tactically and don't just depend on brute force.

 

[Oldermanish]

Overall a good team performance at Dauphiné and two main goals reached. Kruijswijk performed really good on stage 8 and likely secured his Tour spot. Harper did good too. As for the Roglič, Vingegaard and van Aert. It is now clear on why their spots were never under a question. Superb form and likely they will still add a bit to it. Somehow i feel they don't plan to change much for the Tour. Then best to accept it and lets see on how it goes. Due to van Aert ambitions i do feel that as a (GC) team they might race a bit to aggressive. But there are pros too. And maybe that stomp from stage 7 technically wouldn't be needed. In such case better to preserve some energy for the next day. Like lets say ITT. I guess it was needed for resolving some inner team hierarchy questions. And finally lets hope they prepare well tactically and don't just depend on brute force.

Not depending on brute force is definitely a better long game. IMO they can maintain their depth into the 3rd week better than the other contenders assuming no catastrophes on the cobbles or random crashes. That is a big assumption for all teams including Tadej's crew. I'm hoping (say it again) that this TDF and Vuelta each have some good plot twists, bad weather and aggression. We deserve it after several *** type seasons. Those are asterisks, not cursing cover.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I feel that Vingegaard will be an important part of the TdF equation. It's been speculated since last year's TdF but the Dauphine really confirmed it. If Roglic and Pogacar are evenly matched then Vinge could make the crucial difference in tactics. I'm curious to see how JV races the Tour. Will they ride as offensively as here? (hopefully) Or will they try to neutralize Pog & others by keeping high tempo and hoping for a TT? (2020 boring option). Learning from 2020 experiences they should choose the former (using Vingegaard and forcing Pog to chase him).

From Pogacar's perspective two super-strong JV guys is obviously a potential problem. However, I think his optimal tactical choices are more clear - on a super day drop a watt bomb (preferably in the first part of the race) to eliminate at least one JV guy from the equation. Especially if it's cold he can basically crush all guys not named Roglic. If it doesn't work then it will be more difficult if Pog himself has a weaker day later on.

 

[bajbar]

There is one thing I am worried about though. So, let us assume Wout really goes for green - full commitment. That means JV will focus on him on all the stages where he is considered the favourite. But the problem is that especially those punchy stages with "walls" in the last kms (like Longwy, Laussane, Mende to an extent) are exactly the place where a top form Roglič can gain some time (in bonuses if nothing else) against Pogačar. But if they are going to ride those stages for Wout (like in stage 3 of the Dauphine) then they are throwing away a chance to gain time. Unless they plan on having Wout and Roglič sprint against eachother... which does not sound like a very good tactic.

If they want to win the Tour they likely won't win it by blowing up Pog up Alpe d'Huez and Grannon... they might be able to stay with him - but definitely not put minutes into him. So they have to use the team strenght to hurt Pog. They will have the best team (next to Quickstep) for crosswinds, they have a much better cobble team than UAE, Roglič at peak form is arguably better or 15% 1km ramps than Pogačar. Vingegaard might drop him on long steady climbs while the weather is hot. So they have to take their chances - cause Pog is not O'Connor and won't just drop off the wheel when Vinge and Rog pick up the speed.

Because assuming the three of them would be on a simillar level in the mountains... going into the last 40km TT within a minute of Pogačar - well, it is probably the stuff of nightmares for TJV.

 

[RedheadDane]

We deserve it after several *** type seasons. Those are asterisks, not cursing cover.

So glad you pointed that out, coz that's definitely not how I read it.